Prior to setting forth the background of the invention, it may be helpful to set forth definitions of certain terms that will be used hereinafter.
The term ‘terrain” as used herein is broadly defined as the surface of the ground as presented by the topography, any object that is located on the topography such as buildings and trees as well as obstacles such as antennas and poles.
The term ‘terrain clearance’ as used herein is defined as an altitude above surface that complies with predefined safety regulations. A specific location over a surface is said to have terrain clearance if an aerial vehicle can safely pass over it according to predefined safety envelope. Terrain-clearance should be interpreted herein broadly to also include obstacle-clearance.
The term ‘terrain-clearance reachable region’ as used herein is defined as a region above the terrain to which it is possible to maneuver above while complying with predefined terrain clearance requirements.
The term “region of interest” as used herein relates to a subset of the air space that, for example, is located within a predefined radius from the aerial vehicle or alternatively, a flight corridor which is defined by a planned path of flight with predefined margins denoting possible maneuvers.
One of the challenges pilots of aerial vehicles need to address is how to assess the potential or the ability of the aerial vehicle they are controlling to safely pass or maneuver over specific regions along the flight corridor. FIG. 1 illustrates a view according to the prior art which provides a pilot with a visual indication of the altitude of the terrain relative to the aerial vehicle 12 he or she controls. Specifically, 40A and 40B are above the altitude of aerial vehicle 12, portions 30A and 30B has similar altitude as the aerial vehicle and 20A and 20B are below the flight elevation. As can be seen, portions at the flight corridor that are located above the altitude of the aerial vehicle are assigned with a first visual indicator (e.g. first color), portions of the terrain that are located below the aerial vehicle are assigned with a different visual indicator distinguishable from the first visual indicator. All in all, two or more different visual indicators are used in order to mark the terrain altitude relative to the aerial vehicle.
One clear drawback of the aforementioned prior art is, for example, when flying along a canyon below mountains height, all mountains top will be presented by a visual indicator (e.g. red color) thus not giving any indication on what is the real ability to maneuver over the mountain tops.
It would be therefore advantageous to provide and present data that takes into account the aerial vehicle data, both real-time kinematic data and performance envelope, and determine which portions along the flight corridor are realistically maneuverable for the aerial vehicle while complying with terrain clearance requirements.